The Mirrors in Our Hands
And the One Way to Know Who We Really Are
While I waited in the car, I texted my college-age daughter, “We need to go!”
A few minutes later she climbed into the backseat with her makeup bag and phone. In my rearview mirror, I could see her applying makeup, except she wasn’t holding a mirror in her hand. She was holding up her phone.
“Why are you holding your phone like that?” I asked.
“I’m using it as a mirror. This is how all my friends put on makeup.”
Huh. I never thought of doing that. I guess it made sense, but it still seemed strange. I imagined teen girls everywhere, using the reverse camera lens on their phones to apply makeup. In more ways than one, our phones are like little black mirrors, reflecting our image back to us.
But our phones aren’t the only mirrors in our lives.
The world loves to offer us a variety of manmade mirrors in an attempt to tell us who we are. For some of us, we may see our jobs as a reflection of our true selves, conflating what we do with who we are. For others of us, we may look to our spouses or our kids as a reflection of who we are. We see their accomplishments as our accomplishments, or their failures as our failures.
Books on personality types are like a mirror, too. After taking a quick assessment, we turn to the section that tells us about our type. We gaze into the chapter hoping to catch a reflection of who we really are. For me, a good report card at school was my mirror of choice. Maybe for you it was something else.
We all have certain “mirrors” we look to, hoping to glean greater insight into who we are.
Every manmade mirror, however, communicates an image that impacts how we view ourselves and the world around us, and oftentimes these reflections are like a house of mirrors, distorted and unreal.
But there is another house that is not a house of mirrors, but a house where the focus is such a sweet relief because the focus isn’t on us, but on Christ.
The House Without Mirrors
In the Old Testament, God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle so He could reside among His people as they sojourned in the wilderness. Notably, this tent-like sanctuary had but one entrance. There were no side doors, for God’s people were to understand that there is only one entrance into His presence.
Before the priests could enter the tabernacle, however, they had to wash their hands and feet in a large bronze laver, or what we might call a washbasin. The metal they used for the bronze laver came from the bronze mirrors the Hebrew women gave (Exodus 38:8). Back then they didn’t have glass mirrors like we use today. Instead, their mirrors were made from highly polished bronze that could reflect a person’s image.
Picture a group of women lining up to donate their bronze mirrors, probably one of their most prized possessions from the Egyptians. Their mirrors were then melted down to form a huge basin dedicated for cleansing. Where that bronze metal once showed a reflection of themselves, that same bronze now presented them with a picture of the coming Christ, for He is the One who cleanses us and grants us entry into the sanctuary of God’s presence.
I can’t help but wonder if some of the women were sad to hand over their mirrors. Or did they give them gladly? Would we be as willing to hand over our mirrors, including the ones that give us an earthly sense of who we are?
In a discussion of these bronze mirrors, my friend Kate wisely observes,
Imagine a company of women, mirrorless yet reflecting Christ to the world, all of them letting God take mirrors of worldliness and pride and transfigure their purpose. It’s a divine exchange, a holy hand-off, a sacred substitution. We give Him sin, He gives us sanctification. . . . We will become what we behold, so let us behold Christ. —Kate Battistelli
Yes, imagine that — a company of women reflecting Christ to the world. Imagine what could happen if we relinquished the mirrors of this world and sought to behold, instead, the truth and beauty of Christ through the one true mirror of the living Word.
The One True Mirror
Worldly “mirrors” provide a limited view of ourselves at best and a distorted view of ourselves at worst. But the Word of God is also likened to a mirror, except it is the only place where we will find a true reflection of who we really are (James 1:22-25).
But we don’t turn to Scripture to learn more about ourselves. First and foremost, we turn to Scripture to learn more about God, and as we gaze on Him, we are transformed into His image. We become more like Him.
Perhaps we might consider laying down our worldly mirrors and picking up the one mirror that can tell us who we really are. Time in God’s Word is not only time well spent, it is time best spent.
Friends, you are more than your job title. More than your achievements. More than your grade point average. More than your marital status. More than your motherhood status. More than your bank account balance. More than your social media influence. And more than your jeans size.
You are more than the worst thing you have ever done. And more than the best thing you have ever done. You are more than the worst thing that has ever been said about you. And more than the best thing that has ever been said about you.
You are more than the suffering you endure. And you are more than the circumstances around you. You are more than any label this world tries to put on you. Because you are not of this world. You are made for another world. An eternal world where there is no disease, no decay, and no despair.
If you believe in the risen Jesus as Lord, you are a daughter or a son of the King. This is who you really are.
Shalom.
Denise
If we become what we behold, what are you beholding on a daily, or even hourly, basis? How might gazing into God’s Word on a regular basis shape how you view God, the world, and yourself in a truer way?
A Few Notes…
*The quote by Kate Battistelli can be found on p.142 in this CSB Women’s Devotional Bible.
*This piece on mirrors is adapted from a chapter in my book Sanctuary.
*Thank you for your vote of confidence when you tap on the “heart” at the top of each post. And, as always, you are welcome to share these words with a friend.
And Lastly…
*No part of this newsletter — nor anything I have ever published — has been made with Artificial Intelligence (AI) or ghostwriters. All of my words, including any accidental typos, are my own, except for when I quote others with appropriate citations and links.